China is infiltrating Taiwan by exploiting existing business and exchange channels, leveraging Taiwan’s systems to make its activities appear like routine interactions, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday.
Citing the indictment of Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) — a resident of Taiwan by marriage since 1998 and director of the Taiwan New Immigrant Development Association — Tunghai University Center for Mainland China and Regional Development Research deputy director Hung Pu-chao (洪浦釗) said the case, if proven, would point to a broader, systematic approach rather than an isolated incident.
Xu was indicted last week on suspicion of involvement in Beijing-directed election interference.
Photo: Reuters
She is accused of contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and facilitating visits to Taiwan by Sun Xian (孫憲), deputy head of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang in Shanghai, since 2004.
According to the indictment, Sun allegedly applied to visit Taiwan through a company affiliated with Xu’s daughter, but deviated from his declared itinerary after entering the country.
Sun allegedly made multiple visits to Taiwan from 2004 to last year, traveling to Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Tainan and Taitung, the indictment said.
During those visits, Sun allegedly met with members of new immigrant groups and claimed to have direct access to Beijing, the indictment said, adding that he allegedly encouraged participants to promote the “one country, two systems” framework.
Hung said the case illustrates how such activities rely on seemingly legitimate exchanges as cover, allowing operatives to blend into routine cross-strait interactions.
China does not need to establish new mechanisms for such efforts, as it can leverage existing application systems and local collaborators to legitimize visits, he said.
Once in Taiwan, individuals can deviate from their stated purpose to engage in political activities, including meetings and outreach, Hung said.
The case also highlights weaknesses in Taiwan’s immigration and customs system, which maintains strict entry requirements, but has comparatively limited oversight after entry, he said.
Hung urged the government to review and bolster monitoring mechanisms to better detect discrepancies between declared purposes and actual activities.
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS